Bif Naked will be performing during the 2019 Canada Winter Games. Joined by K-OS, the famed singer will be hitting the Gary. W. Harris Celebration Plaza mainstage Feb. 27th. Photo by Coco Kensington Photography

Rocker Bif Naked to perform at Canada Winter Games

Acclaimed Canadian rocker Bif Naked will be bringing her mesmerizing, fired-up performance style to the 2019 Canada Winter Games.

Joined by K-os, the famed singer will be hitting the Gary W. Harris Celebration Plaza mainstage Feb. 27th.

It’s all part of the 52° North Music + Cultural Festival running in tandem with all the exciting sports events the Games has to offer.

Bif Naked has long been carving out her niche on the Canadian music scene – and far beyond – since the early 1990s.

Having lived in Vancouver for years, she now calls Toronto home with her husband Steve Allen, who she married in 2016.

“I love weddings – especially my own,” she said during a chat from her home in Toronto.

Besides her superb sonic collections, Bif has also been expressing herself through the written word as well.

A candid and compelling memoir, I, Bificus, was released in 2016.

These days, she’s penning a new book about cancer, which she herself conquered several years ago.

Bif was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, which was followed by extensive treatments including chemotherapy and radiation.

But no matter the battles, Bif is an amazingly positive, sincere person and continues to extract the good out of virtually any situation – seeking how she can turn it around and lend a helping hand to others.

“One thing that I’m really happy about is that I started volunteering as soon as I was in treatment myself,” she said.

“It just made sense, because I kept getting asked to go visit other patients. It was actually a real blessing because it took me into learning about volunteering and hospice care and about patient advocacy. I love it. I also think it definitely informs what I do now as far as writing this book.

“There are a million cancer books out there for sure,” she added. “And I think my voice will be just another voice for sure, but I think that my perspective will probably be a little more unique having been a patient,” she pointed out.

“When my own father went through his cancer a couple years after me, I was glad to have had the experience so that when I could go and hang out with him, I could understand better what he was going through and some of the physiological symptoms that he was having.”

Born in New Delhi, India in 1971, she was adopted by American missionaries who moved her to Minneapolis and Lexington, Kentucky, ultimately winding up in Winnipeg.

Eventually, she signed up for theatre classes at the University of Winnipeg and joined a musical troupe dubbed Jungle Milk. She also later joined punk band Chrome Dog and it was during those years she was able to prove she could compete with the hardcore punkboys at their own game, noted her bio.

In 1994, she started collaborating with Dying To Be Violent but it wasn’t long before her desire to find her own voice and style proved irrepressible.

She released an indie EP in 1994 followed that same year by her self-titled debut.

That led to her landmark, breakthrough project I, Bificus in 1998.

Other recordings over the years include 2002’s Purge, 2005’s extraordinary offering Superbeautifulmonster and The Promise in 2009.

After having released a few singles over the past few years, she’s now laying down tracks on a project that hopefully will be out by summer.

“It’s so exciting,” she said. “We’ve been writing so much, and the stuff that we have now I think is better than what we started writing a year and a half ago,” she said.

“The best thing about being your own boss is that you get to try and top your best work all of the time. I cannot wait to put this material out – I think people will be really surprised and will really enjoy it.

“I think this music is more like some of my past records in that it’s very ‘singles’ oriented,” she explained. “People write and write and write, and maybe they feel like they have a couple of songs they feel will be real toe-tappers. Or there’s a chorus line they feel like their audience will really grab onto, something they can envision the audience singing along to during their shows.

“Every song we’ve written in the last six months has been like that.”

The band heads back into the studio right before they head to Red Deer, and Bif can’t wait to hit the stage here in town and introduce a few new cuts to the fans.

“I’ll definitely be playing some new ones plus the favourites everyone calls out for, too,” she said. ”It’s going from one cloud nine to another.”

Meanwhile, other artists set to perform during the Winter Games include Brett Kissel, the Strumbellas, Scott Helman, Walk Off the Earth, Wide Mouth Mason, Red Deer Symphony Orchestra, Gord Bamford and Alan Doyle among others.

In addition to the main stage shows, the 52° North Music and Cultural Festival will also showcase theatre and visual artist groups – providing an opportunity to feature local and provincial talent.

All 52° North entertainment is free to the public and hosted, as mentioned, at the Gary W. Harris Celebration Plaza.